“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jews first and also to the Greek” – Romans 1:16
LIGHT FOR NOW: We are gospel newscasters.
The message of Christ has the inherent power to do what it talks about. The message doesn’t need worldly strategies to make it powerful. Neither does it need to dramatize in order to make it powerful. Thinking that the message is powerful because of the drama of jumping, shouting, screaming is thinking wrongly. Anyone can jump, scream, shout, but if Christ is not the content of the message, then it’s not the gospel. Never be deceived into thinking that those dramas are what makes the message powerful, the power of the message is in the message. And this power becomes effective only via preaching. In 1 Corinthians 1:21, Paul lays emphasis on preaching, it reads, “for after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”. So, what pleases God is preaching. What saves is preaching, not choreographing it or adding some make believe. Adding make believes to the message reduces or totally obliterates its effectiveness. Paul in the next chapter (chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians) explains further: “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1).
Don’t ever attempt to remove what makes the message powerful in order to bring in human ideas, views and opinions. In the next verse, Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (2 Corinthians 2:2).
Christ and his cross; it is redemption; what Christ went through because of us; His death, burial and resurrection is the focus. It is about Christ. The gospel is not just a general talk about God, it’s about Christ. Moreso, the gospel is not about how great Jesus was on earth or his benevolence or the Sermon on the Mount, but the sermon of the cross, the grave and the right hand of the father. The event of the death, burial and resurrection and ascension of Christ to the right hand of the father is not only powerful, it is God’s power at its fullest display. You don’t make a message that is already powerful to be powerful, you only deprive it of its power by trying to make it powerful. You don’t add to the message neither do you take away from the message. The message is as powerful as the event. In the event Jesus was raised, the message raises the sinner. Observe Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:5-6 “even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”. All the power is now in the message. Jesus raised from the dead and the sinner man raised to new life in Christ Jesus. This is what we preach. Hallelujah!!
INSTRUCTION: Never compromise the message of Christ.
PRAYER: Lord, I thank you for the message that raised me from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ Jesus. I stay committed in circulating this same message to the world, in Jesus Name. Amen.
For More Light; get the message, “The Gospel of Christ” by Dr. John Linus
QUOTE: The power of the message is from inside-out and not from the outside-in.
DAILY BIBLE READING: MORNING: EPHESIANS CHAPTER 1; EVENING: EPHESIANS CHAPTER 2
LIGHT FROM THE WORD 